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Published: September 6th 2009
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Children at the schoolOn Tuesday my fellow volunteers and I visited the Kitongo Public Primary School which is about a 10 minute walk from JBFC. The school is made up of crumbling buildings that serve over 500 students. As we roamed around looking for the head master we gathered an entourage of Tanzanian children, holding our hands and examining our arm hair. When we finally found him we introduced ourselves and asked if we could observe some of the classes. In broken English he insisted on taking us on a tour of the school. My eyes grew wider in each classroom due to the poor structures and pungent smells of sweat, dirt and urine. There were broken desks in each classroom and make-shift blackboards decorated with holes and gouges. When we returned to the main office we again asked if we could stay and observe. He thought for a second and informed us that all the classes did not have teachers and that the next day would be better.
Thinking on her feet, Jackie (my fellow volunteer) suggested that we teach a lesson to the classes that didn’t have teachers. It took a second for the headmaster to register the offer. His eyes
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Kiswahili class grew wide with surprise that we, wageni, would want to teach at his school. When I informed him that I was a certified English teacher he took me by the arm and guided me to his 7th grade classroom. “Teach” he said as he left three of us there and took the other three volunteers to another classroom. With no idea what to do, I found another teacher that spoke some English and asked what the 7th grade class was working on. “Prepositions” she replied. Okay…prepositions. I can do prepositions.
I introduced myself and the other volunteers to the class of confused students…no response. Okay…I wrote “preposition” on the board and asked if someone could explain what a preposition was…no response. Okay… I knew the Swahili word for “repeat” so I decided to start with the pronunciation of our American names. I wrote Kelsey, Joscelyn, & Kate on the board. “Kel-sseeeee” I said as I pointed to my name, “Rudia” and like a miracle they all said, “Kels-eeeee.” I did the same with the other names and eventually moved on to where we were from, how old we were and what we liked to do. Then I asked the
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Children looking into the classroom students to tell us about themselves. One by one I asked each student to stand up and tell us their: name, age, and what they liked to do. Some students caught on and did quite well, though some of the girls were extremely shy and stared at the ceiling. About half way through the class a hand bell rang which determined the end of the period. Not a bad lesson for 30 seconds notice. Most of them now know how to introduce themselves in English!
The next day we went back to the school and observed some of the classes. I had the pleasure of seeing a Math class, English class, and Kiswahili class. Math and Kiswahili went quite well, considering I had no idea what was going on. However, in the English class, it was difficult for me to sit back and not impose my western ideas of how an English class should be run and conducted. But I bit my lip and watched as over 60 students shared three books and tried their best to follow along with the Tanzanian teacher. When I returned to JBFC, Chris informed me that he wanted me to teach twice a
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The mass migration week in the mornings at the Kitongo school. Great! I will have to meet with the headmaster and Chris to get that all straightened out, but I’m confident I can take on the challenge.
My first day teaching at JBFC will be tomorrow. I’m very excited. This first week will be a learning week for me as well as for the girls. I will be looking to see what levels they are at and what kind of material they already know. Most of them are “false beginners” which is what, we in the ESL world, call people who know some English, but aren’t aware of what it means or the grammar behind it. I have lot of introductory activities and games planned, which I think should be fun as well as make it clear to me how much they already know. However, I may have to do some fancy thinking on my feet. Wish me luck!!
*Fact of the Day: To be a teacher in Tanzania at a public school, you only need two years of community college.
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Laurie
non-member comment
Wow
Ok...so I have nothing else to say except "WOW"! Oh my Kelsey, what a wonderful adventure for you...but what a wonderful experience for the children you are teaching! They are so fortunate to have you there...you will be a wonderful teacher for them! I love your blog and your pictures...thanks so much for sharing them! We are just back from Chicago, visiting with "the boys". It is always fun to be with them. They are great and enjoy working and living and "the good life". I told them all about you! They also said, wow!!!! Be well... L